Combined container and dispenser for liquids



Oct. 13, 1953 o. E. IHLE ET A1.

COMBINED CONTAINER AND DISPENSER FOR LIQUIDS Original Filed Dec. 6, 1948Hmm/S, K/ECH, Fos T151? 6r' HARK/$- Patented Oct. 13, 1953 COMBINEDCONTAINER AND DISPENSER FOR LIQUIDS Orden E. Ihle, Glendale, and EdwinJ. Kapteyn, Losl Angeles, Calif., assignors to said Ihle, doing businessas Ihle. Manufacturing Company,

Glendale, Calif.

Original application December 6, 1948, Serial No. 63,814, now Patent No.2,559,877, dated July 10,

1951, Serial No. 223,704

(Cl. (i2-149) 4 Claims.

This application, which is a division of our copending applicationSerial No. 63,814, led December` 6, 1948, now Patent No. 2,559,877,issued July 10, 1951, for Combined Container and Dispenser for Liquids,relates toa device for containing, agitating, and dispensingr cooledsoft drinks such as fruit juices.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a liquidcontainer and dispenser which includes magnetically driven agitatormeans within the container for continuously agitating the fruit juice orother liquid to maintain the consistency of the dispensed juicesubstantially uniform. A related object is to provide an agitator discrotatable within the container and provided with a permanent magnet, anda driving means outside of the container, also provided with a permanentmagnet, by means of which rotation of the agitator disc is eiiectedwithout mechanical connection thereof to the driving means.

Further objects of the invention will appear from'the followingdescription of the device and from the drawing, which is for the purposeof illustration only, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a liquid dispensing deviceconstructed in accordance with the present invention, certain portionsof the device being broken away to reveal the internal structure;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the'liquiddispensing device, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown'a receptacle I 2 including areceptacle member 80 enclosed by a shell 82, the member and shell havinga common bottom Wall 83. As shown in Fig. 2, the receptacle member Alillincludes a'tubular element 84, which defines a juice compartment 8l, anda U-shaped element 85 which defines with said tubular element an icecompartment 86 of substantially crescent-shaped outline. Spacer elements86' are interposed between the end portions of the sides of the U-shapedelement 85 and the periphery of the element 84 so as to avoid sharpangular crevices in which foreign matter might lodge.

The receptacle member 80 is supported by a base member 90 which consistsof a two-part bottom plate 9| to the periphery of which is secured aperforated metal tube 92. A plate 93 of iiberboard rests upon the upperend of the tube 92 and supports a layer 94 of insulating material, suchas foam plastic material. Resting upon the layer 94 is a plastic topplate 95 having walls dening a well 95. A metal band 91 surrounds theupper end of the base 90 and extends above Divided and this applicationApril 30,

the top thereof to enclose the` lower end of the receptacle member whichis supported by the plate 95.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a plurality of plastic blocks! 8, i9, and 20is joined to the bottom wall 83 and serve as feet which rest upon thesupport plate 93 within the confines of the band Sl. The blocks i8 andI8 are provided with angular passages or discharge ports2| and 22,respectively, these ports communicating with the interior of thereceptacle member 80. Faucets or petcocks 24 and 25 have threaded stemspassing through holes in the band 91 and screwed into the outer threadedends of the respective 'ports 2| and 22, these'faucets being employedfor controlling the ow of liquid from the receptacle member 80.

The receptacle member 80 is provided with a septum or partition 30 whichdivides the interior of the member into the two compartments orcontainers 8i and 86. As shown in Fig. 2, the partition 30 issubstantially semicircular in cross section so that the container 8l ismade cylindrical. The other container, 86, which serves to hold aquantity of ice. or ice water, is substan tially crescent shape in planview. rIhe temperature of the fruit juice or other beverage in thecontainer 8| is effectively cooled through the partition 30 which servesas a heat transferer and which is maintained cool by the ice or icewater within the container 86. The partition 30 has a relatively largesurface area so that a very effective cooling of the liquid in thecontainer 3| is produced.

The liquid dispensing device also includes a closure member or cover A40for closing the upper end of the receptacle member 80. The cover 40 maycomprise a substantially elliptical lower plate 4I madeirom pressed woodfibers or the like, and a stainless steel band 42 which surrounds theedge of the plate, the plate being forced into the band and retainedtherein by a suitable adhesive or by any other means. Nested within theupper projecting end of the band 42 and resting upon the plate 4l is atube 43 which carries a stainless steel band 44 at its upper end. Thecover 40 also hasa second plate 44', similar to the plate 4I, whichrests upon the upper end of the tube 43 within the vband 44.

The severalcomponents of the cover 40 described above may be held inassembled relationship by means of a. bolt 45 passingV through alignedholes in the plates 44 and 4l. The bolt 45 has a knob-like head 46 whichabuts the plate 44', and a nut 4l screwed onto the lower threaded end'ofthe bolt and set up against the plate ai draws the'several partstogether. cork or other material having a low coefficient ofv heatconductivity is preferably cemented to the bottom surface of the plate4I, the sheet be- A sheet 48 oi ing adapted to seal the upper end of thereceptacle member 80 when the cover 40 is in place thereon.

To ll the container 8| with fruit juice or other soft drinks, it isnecessary to merely remove the cover 40, by means of the knob 46, afterwhich the liquid refreshment can be poured into the container and thecover again placed on the receptacle member. In a like manner, a supplyof crushed ice can be conveniently placed in the compartment 86.

To dispense the fruit juice from the container B a glass is held beneaththe spout of the faucet 24 and the faucet opened to permit flow of theliquid through the port 2|. It is also desirable to drain water from theice compartment 86, and this is accomplished by opening the petcock 25to allow flow of the water through the port 22.

When certain liquids such as orange juice are to be dispensed, it ishighly desirable that the liquid be continuously agitated so as toprevent settling of the fruit pulp in the bottom of the container In thepresent device, such agitation is produced by an electric motor |00which is supported by mounting means |0| on the bottom plate 9| and hasan upwardly projecting shaft |02 which extends into the well 96. Theupper reduced end of the motor shaft |02 carries a plastic disc |03 inwhich is held a pair of permanent magnet bars |05. Disposed above therotatable disc |03, within the juice compartment 8|, is a similar disc|06 which also has a pair of permanent magnet bars |01. The disc |06 hasan axial bushing |08 which is rotatable on a vertical stud or pin |09.The pin |09 has a head ||0 seated in a recess in the upper surface ofthe bottom plate 83 at the center of the juice compartment 8|. Adjacentthe motor |00, the shaft |02 carries a fan ||2 for circulating 'airthrough the base 90 for the purpose of maintaining the motor cool.

During operation of the motor |00, the shaft |02 and disc |03 carriedthereby are rotated at a relatively high rate of speed. Due to themagnetic fields set up between the permanent magnets |05 and |01 of therespective discs |03 and |06, the disc |06 is caused to rotate at thesame speed as the disc 03. The frictional engagement of the disc |06with the juice within the compartment 8| causes a swirling agitation ofthe juice so that the fruit pulp of the juice is held in suspension andprevented from settling to the bottom of the juice compartment.

While we have herein shown and described the liquid dispensing device asembodied in an exemplary form, it is obvious that various modiiicationsmight be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Consequently, we do not Wish to be limited in this respect,but desire to be afforded the full scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

l. A liquid containing and dispensing device, comprising: a receptacleadapted to contain `and dispense a liquid therefrom; a refrigerantcontainer adapted to store a refrigerant in heat transfer relation withsaid liquid within said receptacle; an agitator disc rotatable withinsaid receptacle and provided with at least one permanent magnet barextending chordally thereof; a driving disc spaced from and disposedcoaxially with said agitator disc outside of said receptacle, saiddriving disc having at least one permanent magnet bar extendingchordally thereof, said driving disc magnet and said agitator discmagnet providing a magnetic flux extending between said discs to effectrotation of said agitator disc within said receptacle when said drivingdisc is rotated outside of said receptacle; and power means disposedoutside of said receptacle for rotating said driving disc.

2. A liquid containing and dispensing device for storing and dispensinga liquid containing solid particles in suspension therein, comprising: areceptacle member having an open top Iand closed bottom;thermoconductive partition means within said receptacle member dividingthe interior thereof into at least two compartments, at least one ofsaid compartments being adapted to contain said liquid and at least oneother of said compartments being adapted to contain a cooling agent forcooling said liquid during storage thereof; a magnetically drivenagitator rotatable within said liquid containing compartment adapted to'agitate said liquid to prevent settling out of said solid particles;power means disposed outside of said receptacle member for rotating saidagitator means; and magnetic coupling means coupling said power meansand said agitator.

3. A liquid dispensing device as dened in claim 2 in which said agitatorincludes an agitator disc mounted within said liquid containingcompartment vadjacent the bottom of the receptacle member, said agitatordisc being provided with at least one permanent magnet bar extendingchordally thereof, and in which said power means includes an electricmotor disposed beneath the bottom of the receptacle member, said motorhaving an upwardly projecting shaft carrying a driving disc mountedoutside of the receptacle member adjacent the bottom thereof andcoaxially with said agitator disc, said driving disc having at least onepermanent magnet bar extending chordally thereof.

4. A liquid containing and dispensing device for storing and dispensinga liquid containing solids in suspension therein, comprising: areceptacle member having an open top and closed bottom; thermoconductivepartition means within said receptacle member dividing the interiorthereof into at least two compartments, `at least one of saidcompartments being adapted to contain said liquid and at least one otherof said compartments being adapted to contain a cooling agent forcooling said liquid during storage thereof; a pair of rotatable discs,each provided With a permanent magnet, one of said discs being mountedfor rotation within the liquid containing compartment adjacent thebottom of the receptacle member and the other of said discs beingmounted for rotation outside of said compartment adjacent the bottom ofthe receptacle member; driving means disposed outside of said receptaclemember for rotating said discs; and thermal insulating means disposedbetween the bottom of the receptacle member and said driving means.

ORDEN E. IHLE. EDWIN J. KAPTEYN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,289,645 Geistert July 14, 1942 2,459,224 Hendricks Jan. 18,1949 2,466,468 Neal Apr. 5, 1949 2,521,406 Pinto Sept. 5, 1950

